Trenton fire forces 13 people from their homes

The rear of a home on Kent Street in Trenton is boarded up following a fire there the morning of March 7.Alex Zdan/The Times

TRENTON – Thirteen people were forced from their homes this morning after a fire tore through a duplex in Chambersburg, fire officials said.

While the cause of the blaze remains under investigation, authorities have not declared it suspicious and cannot rule out that it started in the home’s electrical system, Battalion Chief Steve Coltre said.

“It appears the fire started in the back area,” Coltre said.

After igniting between the second floor and roof of the lower, rear portion of the three-story house, the fire spread into the ceilings. The common cockloft on the third floor allowed the fire to move into both sides of the duplex, Coltre said.

“(It) festered in the void,” he said. “And that’s where the bulk of the fire hit.”

Firefighters were called out at 7:59 a.m., and Engine 7 found flames coming from the back of the house on Kent Street. The first-alarm fire quickly went to an “all hands” assignment as an extra engine and ladder company were requested. The firefighters pulled down a large part of the ceiling to check for flames hidden inside, and brought the blaze under control within half an hour, Coltre said.

“The guys did a really nice job,” he said.

No injuries were reported.

The thirteen residents – four of them children – were helped by the Red Cross and the city Housing department. There were muti-family units in the building that drove up the amount of people who were inside, Coltre said.